Macclesfield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Macclesfield (disambiguation). For the Borough of Macclesfield, see Macclesfield (borough).
| Macclesfield | |
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Image:Macc TH.jpg
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Macclesfield shown within Cheshire | |
| Population | 50,688 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Macclesfield |
| Shire county | Cheshire |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MACCLESFIELD |
| Postcode district | SK10 SK11 |
| Dialling code | 01625 |
| Police | Cheshire |
| Fire | Cheshire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | Macclesfield |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| Website: http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/ | |
| List of places: UK • England • Cheshire | |
Macclesfield is a market town in Cheshire, England with a population of about 50,688 (2001 census for Macclesfield urban sub-area). It is the main settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Macclesfield.
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[edit] Description
Macclesfield is located in the east of Cheshire, close to the borders of Derbyshire and Buxton on the western edge of the Peak District, on the River Bollin, a tributary of the Mersey. To the west of the town lies the Cheshire Plain. The town is most famous for its once thriving silk textile industry, commemorated in the local Silk Museum. Although "Silk Town" seems to be the preferred nickname these days, Macclesfield's traditional local nickname is "Treacle Town"—supposedly from an incident where a merchant spilt a load of treacle on Hibel Road, and the poor rushed out to scoop it off the cobbles. Another, less picturesque, reason has it that the mill-owners used to provide barrels of treacle to the un-employed weavers.[citation needed]
It is the home to furniture store Arighi Bianchi, local football club Macclesfield Town, AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, The King's School, Macclesfield which dates from the 16th century and the King's Girls School, Macclesfield, a much more recent development; both are public schools.[1] Other local High schools include Fallibroome High School, Tytherington High School, Henbury High School and All Hallows. The fine Georgian Town Hall was designed by Francis Goodwin in 1823. Present day industries include: pharmaceuticals, textiles, light engineering, paper and plastics.
[edit] Etymology
The Domesday Book lists Macclesfield as "Maclesfeld", whilst in 1183 it was referred to as "Makeslesfeld".[2]
It is thought that Macclesfield got its name from "Michael's field" - referring to St. Michael, as in St. Michael's church.[citation needed]
A person from Macclesfield is referred to as a "Maxonian".
[edit] History
Situated in the ancient Hundred of Hamestan,[3] (later, in the hundred of Macclesfield) Macclesfield was granted a borough charter by the Lord Edward, the future King Edward I, in 1261. There is evidence that the borough had originally been founded by Ranulf III, Earl of Chester, early in the thirteenth century. The parish church of St Michael was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.[4]
The borough had a weekly market, and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair, was on St Barnabas day (11 June), the other on the feast of All Saints (1 November).
Macclesfield was the administrative centre of the Hundred of Macclesfield[citation needed], also known as Hamestan, which occupied most of east Cheshire. The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary went as far as Disley. The manor house was situated on the edge of the deer-park, on the west of the town.
In addition, the Earls of Chester had established the forest of Macclesfield, which was much larger than its present-day namesake. It was used for hunting deer, as well as pasturing sheep and cattle. By the end of the thirteenth century, large areas of the forest had been ploughed up because of the pressure of population growth. In 1356, two trees from the forest were gifted to archer William Jauderell to repair his home.
The so-called 'Macclesfield Castle' was a fortified town house built by the dukes of Buckingham in the later Middle Ages.
In the uprising of 1745, Charles Stuart and his army marched through Macclesfield as they attempted to reach London. The Mayor was forced, reluctantly, to officially welcome the Prince, and this welcome is commemorated in one of the town's famous silk tapestries.[5] At one point, Macclesfield was the world's biggest producer of finished silk; now, the four Macclesfield Silk Museums display a huge range of information and products from that period. At one time the silk manufacture was home based but as machinery was introduced large sheds were built to accommodate it and the workers were expected to move into them. Paradise Mill is a working mill museum which demonstrates the art of silk weaving to the public.[6]
Between 1826 and 1831 the Macclesfield Canal was constructed,[7] linking Macclesfield to Marple to the north and Kidsgrove to the south.
Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge.
[edit] Government and politics
See also: Macclesfield (UK Parliament constituency), Macclesfield (borough)
Macclesfield gives its name to a parliamentary constituency which covers the town and the surrounding area. The current MP is Sir Nicholas Winterton, who was first elected in 1971. On a local government level, Macclesfield town hall is the headquarters of Macclesfield Borough Council, which administers the Macclesfield parliamentary constituency and the neighbouring constituency of Tatton. Both the parliamentary seat and the council are held by the Conservatives, who have held the parliamentary seat since the 1918 general election[8] and have held overall control of the council since 1976.[9]
[edit] Twinning with other towns and cities
The entire borough of Macclesfield is twinned with Image:Flag of Germany.svg Eckernförde, Germany.[10]
[edit] Culture and sport
Macclesfield has few cultural amenities; in 2004, research was published in The Times naming Macclesfield and its borough the most uncultured town in Britain, based on its lack of theatres, cinemas and other cultural facilities.[11] The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema,[12] but similar attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In 2005 a small scale temporary cinema was set up in the Heritage Centre, and Cinemac has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the arts cinema Silk Screen, which gives fortnightly screenings of art house films. Amateur dramatics is well represented in the town by Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society which has run for 60 years and has its own theatre in town; there are three art galleries in Macclesfield;[13] Gawsworth Hall hosts an annual Shakespeare festival as well as many arts and music events throughout the year.However, during the recent outlining of plans for the new Macclesfield town centre, a large cinema has been given the go-ahead after many years of pressure from the residents.
Macclesfield has appeared in film: it was used as the location for Sir John Mills' film "So Well Remembered" in 1947.[14] Some of the locations are still recognisable, such as Hibel Road. A fictionalised version of Macclesfield's railway station appeared in the 2005 football hooliganism film "Green Street".[15]
Musically, Macclesfield is best known as the home town of Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris of Joy Division; a memorial to Curtis is located in Macclesfield Crematorium.[16] Other Macclesfield acts to have gained recognition include The Macc Lads and Marion. The Macclesfield band Silk Brass have also gone on to receive a National Champion title in the brass band movement in 2003. Since 2004 Maccattack Promotions, and friends, have promoted a flourishing local music scene, with live acts playing at The Queens Hotel, Cuban Knights, The Townhouse and now The Swan With Two Necks.
In literature, Macclesfield is the second principal location of the fantasy novels The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner.
Macclesfield's professional football club, Macclesfield Town, first gained league status in 1997, and currently play in League Two. The club play their home games at the Moss Rose in the south of the town. Macclesfield RUFC, the town's rugby union club, play in National Division Three (North), the fourth tier of rugby union in England.
Macclesfield's cycling club Macclesfield Wheelers [17] is a local club specialising in all forms of cycling activities - from pleasure riding to racing. World famous cyclist Reg Harris produced "Reg Harris" bikes in Macclesfield for 3 years during the 1950s. The local cycling campaign group is known as MaccBUG (Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group).[18] Formed in 1999 they campaign for better cycling provision for leisure and utility cyclists.
In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Macclesfield were the 3rd most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 29.3% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.[1]
[edit] Notable Residents
- Ben Ainslie - Olympic gold medal winning yachtsman: born in Macclesfield 1977
- William Buckley - a convict transported to Australia who escaped and lived with local aborigines for 32 years, until discovered by the man who first settled Melbourne, Australia
- Peter Crouch - England international football player, born in Macclesfield.
- Ian Curtis - Lead vocalist of the band Joy Division, grew up and killed himself in Macclesfield.
- Geoff Lloyd - well-known radio DJ for Virgin Radio grew up in Macclesfield.
- John Mayall, OBE - pioneering English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
- Joseph McCabe - rationalist author.
- Peter Moores - Sussex and England Cricket Coach as of May 2007: born and went to school in Macclesfield.[2]
- Mr. Scruff - British DJ and artist born in Macclesfield.
- The Macc Lads - famous rock group, well known for obscenities in many of their lyrics.
- David Dickinson - Famous for TV Antique programme Bargain Hunt and for his use of the phrases "Cheap as Chips" and "Bobby Dazzler".[citation needed]
- Nick Robinson - Political editor for the BBC was born in Macclesfield and attended nearby Cheadle Hulme School.
- Vera Brittain - Novelist, pacifist and mother of Shirley Williams. (Lived in Macclesfield from 18 months old until 11 years old.)
- Mr. Methane - Performing Flatulist born in Macclesfield.
- David Shrigley - Glasgow based artist.
[edit] See also
- St Michael's Church, Macclesfield
- Christ Church, Macclesfield
- King Edward Street Chapel, Macclesfield
[edit] References
- ^ regional GCSE league table.
- ^ Scholes, R (2000), written at Wilmslow, Cheshire, Towns and villages of Britain: Cheshire, Sigma Press, 104, ISBN 1-85058-637-3
- ^ Finney, Isaac. Macklesfelde in ye olden time. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
- ^ A History of the Church. St. Michael's Macclesfield. Retrieved on November 28, 2006.
- ^ Silk Tapestries of Macclesfield. Retrieval Date: October 15, 2007.
- ^ Paradise Mill website. Retrieval Date: October 15, 2007.
- ^ Tim Boddington. The Macclesfield Canal. Retrieved on November 28, 2006.
- ^ Safe seats. Electoral Reform Society. Retrieved on November 29, 2006.
- ^ Local elections: Macclesfield. BBC News. Retrieved on November 29, 2006.
- ^ Details of twinning arrangements. Macclesfield Borough Official Website. Retrieval Date: 25 September, 2007.
- ^ Is charming Macclesfield really such a cultural cul-de-sac?. The Times. Retrieved on November 29, 2006.
- ^ Cinema may replace Tesco and Hughes stores as new star in town. Macclesfield Express. Retrieved on November 29, 2006.
- ^ Art galleries of Macclesfield. Cheshire County Website. Retrieval Date: October 15, 2007.
- ^ So Well Remembered. International Movie database website. Retrieval Date: October 15, 2007.
- ^ Green Street (US title: Hooligans) International Movie Database website. Retrieval Date: October 15, 2007.
- ^ Getting to know Dad. Macclesfield Express. Retrieved on November 29, 2006.
- ^ Macclesfield Wheelers Cycling Club. Official website. Retrieval Date: December 16, 2007
- ^ Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group (MaccBUG). Official website. Retrieval Date: October 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
The Borough of Macclesfield, Cheshire | |
|---|---|
| Principal Settlements | Bollington • Knutsford • Macclesfield • Wilmslow |
| Civil Parishes | Adlington • Agden • Alderley Edge • Ashley • Aston by Budworth • Bexton • Bollington • Bosley • Chelford • Chorley • Disley • Eaton • Gawsworth • Great Warford • Henbury • High Legh • Higher Hurdsfield • Kettleshulme • Knutsford • Little Bollington • Little Warford • Lower Withington • Lyme • Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough • Marthall • Marton • Mere • Millington • Mobberley • Mottram St. Andrew • Nether Alderley • North Rode • Ollerton • Over Alderley • Peover Inferior • Peover Superior • Pickmere • Plumley • Pott Shrigley • Poynton with Worth • Prestbury • Rainow • Rostherne • Siddington • Snelson • Sutton • Tabley Inferior • Tabley Superior • Tatton • Toft • Wincle • |
| Unparished Areas | Macclesfield • Wilmslow |
Ceremonial county of Cheshire | |
|---|---|
| Cheshire Portal | |
| Unitary authorities | Halton • Warrington |
| Boroughs or districts | Chester • Congleton • Crewe and Nantwich • Ellesmere Port and Neston • Macclesfield • Vale Royal |
| Cities and towns | Alsager • Bollington • Birchwood • Chester • Congleton • Crewe • Ellesmere Port • Frodsham • Knutsford • Macclesfield • Middlewich • Nantwich • Neston • Northwich • Runcorn • Sandbach • Warrington • Widnes • Wilmslow • Winsford See also: List of civil parishes in Cheshire |
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